About the Author
Cathy Boyd Byrd invites others to join her in considering topics of interest to those on the Christian spiritual journey…..discipleship, spirituality, mental health, Christian growth, and Bible study. Cathy enjoys working with others as they transition from emotional emergency and brokenness to spiritual emergence and abundant living! Many of the topics about which Cathy writes are interrelated as experienced in her own life and in the lives of those with whom she works in counseling, teaching, and case management, and in friendships. She believes that sharing our journey of Christian growth and spirituality helps us know God and ourselves better and connects us with others!
Cathy is a Christian Educator and Life Recovery Counselor, and an ordained deacon through Christian Leaders Institute. She serves as Community Outreach MInister at Lynn Haven United Methodist Church. She is a student (disciple) of the Holy Spirit and shares with her students (disciples) the things the Lord teaches her through Bible study and contemplation, incorporating experiences interpreted through the Word, cherished traditions of her faith, and reasoning that comes from seeking the mind of Christ in accountable community. She was widowed in August 2020 after 48 years of marriage to Bill Byrd, is mother of 2 and grandmother of 5. Her journey of faith has been lifelong and continues to be an adventure with the trailblazer and guide, Jesus Christ!
Cathy is the founder and program manager for a Christian women’s residential life recovery program, Titus 2 Partnership, Inc.(www.titus2.life) in Panama City, Florida.
Pandemic Suffering
Entering our third month of Covid-19 limitations and losses, griefs and aggravations, fears and unsteadiness I have listened to and commiserated with a number of people as we have talked about the changes and expected changes. We have also discovered a few unexpected pleasant serendipities. But mostly it has been hard. It has called forth a deeper kind of faith and resilience and leaning into God than has been required of some. I have been in this place before. In fact, several times. That doesn’t mean I am comfortable here or that I enjoy it. It just means I know the territory. I’ve been...
Jesus, Lover of My Soul
Friday 5/15/20 My first image upon opening my computer was a lovely view of the cosmos that I discovered was the Rosette Nebula. I usually don’t look twice at those opening pictures on my computer but this captured my attention. As I looked at it I felt God clearly imprint in my mind…… “This is for you.” Huh? A rose…. For me? “Yes.” So I looked up information about the Rosette Nebula. There were several clear indicators that led me to know for certain that God was speaking to me through this image. It spoke to me of the great creative power of God’s mind and his will and the assurance of his...
Letting My Body Down
Letting My Body Down May 4, 2020 In February 2019, during the extreme recovery aftermath of Hurricane Michael I began some experiencing pain in the right side of my neck and shoulder. The neck pain I attributed, in part, to arthritis and having to turn my head a certain way to see at a distance with a pair of glasses that had been incorrectly filled and fitted and I had not been able to go back to the optometric shop to get them redone since the storm. My shoulder was painful at certain angles, too, but seemed to improve with rest. My doctor advised that I might have some inflammation or a...
God Calls and Makes His Mark
stig-muh (singular) or stig-mah-tuh (plural) In general: In the singular especially, it is a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on one's reputation. Medicine/Medical: a. a mental or physical mark that is characteristic of a defect or disease: i.e., the stigma of leprosy (or cancer, or STDs, or many contagious diseases), of homosexuality, of mental illness, of birth defects, ........whatever is perceived as the antithesis or even marginally differentiated from the majority's "norm". b. place or point on the skin that bleeds during certain mental states, as in hysteria. (or...
A Severe Mercy ?
A severe mercy? On April 29, 2015 I wrote briefly in a social media post after reading one of my favorite daily meditations written by Jill Carattini, a portion of which is here: "Practically speaking, disillusionment is the loss of illusion. In terms of larceny, then, it is the equivalent of having one’s high cholesterol or a perpetually bad habit stolen. Disillusionment, while painful, is evidence which shows the myths that enchant us need not blind us forever, a sign that what is falsely believed can be shattered by what is genuine. In such terms, disillusion is far less an unwanted...
Miracles of Healing Ministry
Miracles of Healing Ministry CBB 4-15-20 “As a very young child, perhaps 3 ½ or 4, I recall my Father taking me to see a relative of his in Barbour County, AL. My recollection is that it was his maternal grandfather’s second wife, whom family members called “Aunt Ari.” What I have been told of her is that she had been a very young woman, perhaps 15 or 16, when she married the widower, Mr. Carroll, who would have been in his 30’s, his first wife having died when my grandmother, Annie Elma Carroll and her older sister, Oma Carroll were young, perhaps six and eight years old. Ari Carroll...
Stay Safe. Stay Connected…….. For Life!
I had shared this social media "meme" and an "after church" photo last year..... This year's "after church" photo is posted below last year's meme and photo. Today's was taken at our home following a Youtube online stream of Lynn Haven UMC's "simple service" from its gathering space/studio at the newly remodeled campus on Minnesota Ave in Lynn Haven, FL. (formerly the FUSION campus of Lynn Haven United Methodist Church). 3-22-2019 Social Media Post: "For couples so eager to call it quits and throw in the towel on your relationship because everything isn't 'perfect'...here is some food for...
Another Fisherman’s Story…..
As fervently and broadly as prayers by Christians have been being raised for the last month or so since this menacing contagion came to our attention, the fact that our leaders have shifted into a more sober, cooperative, urgent, and broader-based spirit of seriously seeking solutions while attempting to put aggressive protective and containment measures in place suggests to me that God is, in fact, acting on our prayers. I believe God IS acting redemptively and we will see some truly amazing things begin to happen! If suddenly we awoke tomorrow and the contagion had begun quickly...
Blessings and Curses
Sermon For A National Day of Prayer for COVID 19 Carillon Chapel March 15, 2020 Blessings and Curses Responsive Reading- Psalm 95 Leader: O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. People: For the LORD is a great God And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. Leader: The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down,...
Meth Is The New Alcohol
Life is fast paced. And now, it seems, so is death. When I was young, I was aware that my grandfather drank. It was worse than that. He was alcoholic. I can remember my mother and her mother, Mama G., in tears on occasion because Daddy G. had, it seemed "fallen off the wagon." He had not come home after work. Instead he had gone to "Shotts", a beer joint on the way home and was, even then, likely driving under the influence. Mama G. wrung her hands as she watched anxiously at the window to see the truck appear. It was the 1950s and 60s. Alcohol, following a brief fantasy attempt at...